1966 Football Forecast

I HAD made up my mind to be optimis- tic this season. Yet everywhere I went last winter, I received the same comment from sportswriters, fans and alumni: "Gosh, you don't lose anybody from last year's undefeated Dartmouth team!"

So my optimism has given way to realism. I would like to point out that Dartmouth has lost somebody. In fact, it has lost six All-Ivy League players and a total of ten starters from the 1965 squad. It also has lost three coaches well-grounded in our system: Jack Musick and Chuck Ramsey to Cornell and Joe Yukica to New Hampshire.

I don't think any previous Dartmouth football team ever has faced a season with so many challenges. With the nation's longest winning streak (ten games), we'll be the prime target for everyone we play. We have a very tough opening schedule with Massachusetts, Holy Cross and Princeton in succession. And we'll be working with a revamped coaching staff as mentioned above.

Here's my current preview on each phase of our '66 squad:

OFFENSIVE BACKFIELD: We will greatly miss Bob O'Brien, an all-around halfback, and powerful Mike Urbanic. Yet if our first backfield stays healthy, it should be a fine unit. We'll move Gene Ryzewicz into O'Brien's left halfback slot. With Paul Klungness at rhb, they'll give us speed and running ability. Fullback Pete Walton and qb Mickey Beard are both proven stars and this should be a well-balanced backfield. Halfback reserves are Tommy Thompson, Bob Thomas, and George Spivey, all bothered with injury last season. We are weak on fullback and quarterback depth. Best sophomore prospects appear to be halfbacks Steve Amundson and Bob Lund-quist and fullbacks Dan Chandler and Vic Chaltain.

DEFENSIVE BA CKFIELD: This was our big question mark a year ago but four boys - Wynn Mabry, Andy Danver, Gordon Rule, and Steve Luxford — came through for us. They'll all be back and I anticipate another fine job from them. For reserves we have Dan Graves, Sam Hawken, and Paul Kiely, with Rick Wallick as the only promising soph at present.

OFFENSIVE LINE: If Bill Calhoun and Bob MacLeod stay healthy, I won't trade them for any other pair of ends in the country. That's a big statement but they should be a great pair. However, we have no depth behind them. Randy Wallick is the best sophomore prospect At tackle, Hank Paulson and Skip Small will undoubtedly be the smallest starting pair in the league. Yet both can do a fine blocking job. Again, however, we have no reserve strength here. If left guard Bill Sjogren continues to improve he could be one of the finest offensive guards we've ever had. We have a big hole to fill with Tony Yezer gone at right guard. Juniors John Sullivan and Chuck Woodworth are the best prospects, with Charles Courtney and Jonas Johnson up from the freshmen. We should be in good position at center with unanimous All-Ivy Chuck Matuszak back and sound reserves in Dave Skinner and soph Gary Day.

DEFENSIVE LINE: We have some big holes to fill here, such as All-America Ed Long, All-Ivy end Tom Clarke, and Boston Patriot tackle Dave Coughlin. We're encouraged about defensive end Bill Brandt after his Princeton performance and we feel that Randy McElrath, a converted fullback, is a good prospect. Senior Bill Dix who has been bothered with injuries is an outside hope with Pete Lawrence the best of the freshmen. We have three experienced tackles in Bill Eggeling, Jim Eldridge, and Roy Johnson, but no standouts like last year's Gerry LaMontagne. At middle guard we are fairly well off with Mike Westfall and Mike Machan (injured last year). At linebacker Norm Davis is a future standout and Bruce Smith is capable although he lacks Edgar Holley's speed. Freshman captain Jim Gardner should help.

KICKING GAME: We have both placekicker Bill Hay and punter Tom Pyles returning plus another good punter in Roy Wallace up from the freshmen.

Overall Dartmouth has problems in the line and in general depth. Yet we still have many exciting players and more experienced backs than in recent years. I hope this will be a team which can rise to a challenge.

1966 Football Schedule

Sept. 24 Massachusetts 1:30 Oct. 1 Holy Cross away 1:30 Oct. 8 Princeton 1:30 Oct. 15 Brown 1:30 Oct. 22 Harvard away 2:00 Oct. 29 Yale away 1:30 Nov. 5 Columbia 1:30 Nov. 12 Cornell away 1:30 Nov. 19 Pennsylvania away 1:30